CIRENCESTER’S superb new pitch at Deer Park was in pristine condition at the weekend whilst many club matches were lost to the weather.

The 2nd XI entertained Evesham and Badsey who were lying third in the league and from the start the hosts bossed exchanges and controlled the pace of the game.

An earlier penalty corner was slapped home by Marcus Grinnell to put the home side ahead. Minutes later and following good work done the right from Jason Muir and James Meredith, striker Matt Hicks was on hand to flick the ball home to extend a 2-0 lead.

With Evesham and Badsey failing to press on Cirencester’s back four, the half ended comfortably for the home side.

Cirencester’s dominance continued in the second half, and neither side had any scoring opportunities until a well worked move down the right between Meredith and Muir resulted in a Meredith shot fired home to put the side 3-0 up.

Evesham secured a small consolation when a speculative clearance was picked off by the centre forward who lashed the ball past keeper Dave Webb but Cirencester collected all three points.

With the 1st and 4th XI matches cancelled, Cirencester’s only other men’s match was the 3rd XI who conceded two early goals.

A Dave Hall penalty corner strike was only saved by a “foot” on the line, but Ed Hastie-Smith’s flick drew a save from the keeper. 2-0 down at half time and whilst Cirencester rallied missed chances saw them vulnerable to the counter attack and losing their shape.

Lansdown took full advantage and scored a further four goals without reply leaving Cirencester 3rd team still waiting for their first league win.

The only fixture for the ladies was a 4th XI friendly in Dorcan against North Wilts.

A slippery pitch saw some early tumbles, and at half time Cirencester were a goal down.

However, the side rallied well, with a brace of goals from Jenny Jones set up by the tireless work of player of the match, Patricia Annan-Woods who composed play was a treat to watch.

Cirencester 4s travelled to Dorcan on Saturday to play a friendly against North Wilts.

With several players falling over in the first minute it was a nervous start and Cirencester were 1-0 down at half-time despite some excellent play.

Two goals were scored in the second half, both from Cirencester, who think the purple away strip may have bought them luck as it did for the 3s in a previous away fixture.

Player of the match went to Patricia Annan-Woods who held the ball up well and set up the first goal.

A well-deserved 2-1 win on a chilly Saturday afternoon was just what was needed before entering the Christmas break! Both goals scored by Jenny Jones.

Skipper Rachel Wheeler is convinced there is some luck in the away strip, she said: “This is our second outing in the purple away kit and our second win; so we are hopeful of some colour clashes in future fixtures but this was a highly satisfying win before the Christmas break.”